Photos

These are shuttles which were being used to weave silk brocade material. The loom they used required 3 people to operate it. The person who is responsible for throwing the shuttles through the warp and weft threads then the person above him was responsible for switching to create the design. The third person kept the finished material rolled and taut as it came off the loom. The looms were totally people powered and made of wood. The person doing warp and weft was sitting in a second story (he was about 3metres above the ground and almost directly above the shuttle person. It was an operation that required timing and skill but they didn't even talk to each other most of the time. Each member of the team did his job relying on each other member to do theirs. It was a brilliant study of motion and timing.
The resulting fabric was stunning.